Stray
by iPnay
Summary: A Newport reunion brings the old gang back together after fifteen years. They've built brand new lives, moved on. But what happens when one simple invitation brings them all back? Mainly RAMC, SCSR
1. Chapter 1

**Stray**  
**Chapter 1 **

_If: a two-letter word for futility. What if nothing had ever happened? What if I still felt safe? What if we were still together?_

"Baby, are you alright?"

Marissa snapped out of her reverie but didn't turn her head. The silent tears streamed down her face and stained the pillow beneath her.

"Baby?" the voice queried again, with more caution this time. "Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it. Baby?"

She turned over and wiped a tear from her cheek. As she looked at him, she saw not his face but Ryan's. It loomed in front of her like an apparition, a ghostly image from her past. She leaned forward to grab it but he mistook it as her forgiveness. Marissa sobbed harder as his arms held her in his hollow embrace.

* * *

"… And, buddy, I'm telling you, this chick was damn fucking amazing."

"Hmm… Really." It wasn't a question. "So when do I get to met this so-called amazing woman of yours? Or do you have to find her first?"

The rest of the guys in break room laughed and snickered while Ryan watched from his corner. He continued.

"Honestly, though, if she was so perfect and 'fucking amazing' in bed, you'd be tired out right now. Right?"

As the other guys teased and mocked in unison with Ryan's taunts, he shut his mouth. _I had someone absolutely amazing_, he thought, the voice in his head sounding distant, but much nearer than the laughter in the room. _But I have Kelly now, so it doesn't matter anymore. It's not supposed to_.

"Hey, Atwood. Your cell's ringing. You gonna answer it?"

He looked lost for a moment then he felt hopeful. Getting up quickly, he answered it in the hallway.

"Maris—"

"Ry, I have to cancel dinner tonight." The loud interruption covered his anticipation and disappointment

"Oh."

"Is that alright, honey? Because if you really want to go, I'll cancel this thing that just came up. I mean, they _did_ fly in from Rome to meet with us, and the sooner the better and everything—"

"Kel, it's fine. I'll just stay home. Or go out with some of the guys. I can entertain myself." His tone was flat and dry. He was still thinking about Marissa and how much he would've loved it to be her soft voice answering him instead of the high-pitched yammering he was enduring now.

"… And I should be home by then because I have to go to the office tomorrow anyway. Alright, I have to go now. I love you."

Ryan just closed his cellphone.

* * *

"Is it really necessary that I go, Sum?"

"Coop, you've been miserable these last few weeks. It's starting to cramp on my style, and I say that out of love and ultimate care for you, sweetie. Going to this will not, and I repeat, will not kill you."

Marissa looked down to her lap at the invitation. It was thick, cream coloured paper typed in fancy, scrawled font.

"Summer, has it really been fifteen years?"

The voice on the other line sighed and the sound echoed through the empty kitchen. "Yes, it has, Coop. I'm glad they didn't choose to hold it at the twenty year mark. I'd probably be shelling out thousands, no, millions, on plastic surgery just to look better than I did back then."

Marissa laughed then stopped. She hadn't laughed freely in a long time. "Do you think…"

"He lives too far away, Coop. From what I've heard, he's living in the East Coast now. He made it big in architecture and married some other top notch business broad."

"Yeah, you're right," Marissa conceded with as little disappointment as possible. " Maybe I will go. I wonder if Chris can take the time off."

"Uh, hon, did you read you invitation?" Summer's uncertainty made Marissa's eyebrows raise.

"What do you mean?" She held up the invitation and re-read it quickly.

"It says that you can only bring you. And only you."

She swallowed. That meant she'd have to face Ryan. Alone. In a room full of people she thought she had left behind.


	2. Chapter 2

**Stray  
Chapter 2**

"Champagne, sir?" He opened his eyes and saw a smiling face six inches from his.

"Uh, no. I'm good, thanks."

The flight attendant moved on and Ryan closed his eyes again, trying to imagine what the reunion would be like. Would she still look the same? Would she even talk to him?

He dozed off again and was asleep until the voice of the flight attendant bothered his sleep.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to take your upright position now. We're just about to land in Los Angeles." She smiled sweetly and walked down the row without waiting for his response.

Ryan yawned loud, and resisted from stretching, lest he injure the person next to him. After blinking a few times, he sat up and brought his chair up with him. As he buckled his seatbelt, a different flight attendant strutted up the aisle and paused by his side.

"The Elites reunion, huh?"

Ryan looked up at the stewardess. She was looking straight ahead but he could still see the slight smirk on her face. "Excuse me?"

"You're here for the Newport Association's Reunion." It wasn't a question.

"Uh… Yeah, I am," he replied. He settled into his seat, convinced that it was just a coincidence.

* * *

"Cohen, aren't you worried?"

"_Cohen_. No, I'm not. I'm confident that everything will go fine and things will go back to normal, like they were. And I can't believe that you're still calling me Cohen!"

Summer stared at him indignantly from the passenger seat of the white Lexus. "Now you've just ruined everything!"

"What?" Seth cried just as indignantly. She slapped his arm and he groaned, taking one hand off the wheel to rub his arm.

"For one thing, you just said that things were gonna be fine, which means they won't because you just jinxed it. Secondly," her tone softened, "I've always called you Cohen."

"Yeah, you just wait," he replied with playful sarcasm. "Zack and Ciara are going to stop calling me dad and Nevaeh's going to grow up not saying 'dada' but 'Cohen'. And that's going to be all your fault."

Summer laughed and peeked over her shoulder. A ten-year-old girl and boy were sleeping on each end of the back seat, their heads resting on their own windows. In the middle was a small, chubby toddler in a child safety seat. She was playing with some stuffed animals complacently as the car drove. Summer smiled and turned her attention back to Seth.

"Well, if they do start calling me Cohen, then they better learn to say it with attitude, like you do, baby." He looked over at her and smiled, reading her mind perfectly. She blushed and muttered something along the lines of "Nerd" as his cellphone rang. Nevaeh squealed with delight and Summer turned her attention to her youngest child while Seth answered his phone.

"Hello." He paused for a second for a response. "Hey! Ryan, man! Where are you?"

Summer raised an eyebrow as she sat properly again. She listened to Seth's side of the conversation and watched as the once familiar sights of Newport streamed by her.

"… Yeah? Did you find out who it was? Maybe she'll turn up at the reunion… Didn't see her at all?… Yeah, Mom and Dad are going to kill you… They're alright. Sleeping in the back cuz we woke them up early… Uh-huh, of course, man… You're there already? Okay, well, turn around."

Summer smiled again as Seth honked his horn twice, pulling up barely an inch away from Ryan's knees.

"Seth, you psycho!" Ryan yelled, running around to the driver side door. Both Seth and Summer got out and the two brothers hugged.

"I missed you, man."

"Yeah, me too." Ryan let go and turned his attention to his sister-in-law. He grinned and bear-hugged her. "Summer! It's a good thing that you're taking care of things."

"Welcome home, Chino!" she greeted playfully. After they let go of each other, she turned her attention to waking up the twins and getting all three kids out of the car.

* * *

"Well, Ryan and Kelly are going to want his old pool house, Seth and Summer are going to be in Seth's old room as well as Nevaeh. That leaves us with Zack and Ciara fighting over who gets a couch down here and who gets the only guest bedroom."

Kirsten let out a contented sigh as she listened to Sandy try to work out last minute arrangements. "It's going to be good, having the kids back again."

Sandy grinned at her wistful nostalgia. Putting his arm around her, he replied, "And the grandkids."

She agreed and sipped her tea. They sat in silence for a couple minutes until they heard a car horn and yelling coming from the drive. "They're here."  
"Yup. Should we go out and greet them or should we pretend to be senile?" Sandy completed his sarcasm with feeble gestures.

"I think Seth and Ryan would know if we were senile," Kirsten replied, standing up and smoothing out the creases from her skirt. "They already know that you're crazy, but not senile."

"Hey, watch out, you," he teased back warningly. "I may be crazy, but it's only for one person. You."

As they approached the front door, it opened and a whirlwind of children flew through it. Seth called after them, loaded down with bags, but it was too late.

"Zack! Ciara! Can you guys please enter Grandma and Grandpa's house civilly?"

The kids ran up to Sandy and Kirsten and hugged their waists. Following them were Summer, with little Nevaeh in her arms. Lastly came the brothers, both loaded down with suitcases, two of Ryan's and six of the Seth and Summer's.

Sandy picked his way over to the two men at the door with arms open.

"Boys! Welcome home!"

Seth was first to approach him, a wide grin decorating his face. "Hey, Dad. Long time, no see."

After Seth backed away with a pat on his back from Sandy, Ryan stepped up, an equally wide grin on his face. "Hey."

"Hey, Ry." Sandy responded quietly, knowing his adopted son's quiet, sensitive habits. He let go and looked behind him. "Where's Kelly?"

Ryan looked down at his shoes for a moment then looked Sandy in the eye. "She had to stay at home. She has a bunch of business stuff to do…" He trailed off, hoping Sandy didn't catch on with his deception. Before Sandy could reply, Kirsten joined them, hugging Seth and then Ryan.

"Kelly couldn't make it, huh?"

"Nah, she had things to do in New York," he replied, relieved.

"That's alright. We're glad to have you home. Come in! What are you waiting for?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Stray**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

It was strange for her to be back in Newport. After living the last ten years in Sacramento, Marissa felt so out of place amidst the rich and spoiled. She looked around the restaurant nervously for her mother and sister, hoping that she _looked_ like she belonged there. 

"May I help you?" the waitress at the seating podium asked. She looked at Marissa warily, her tone soaked in snob.

"Uh, yeah. I'm here under the name of Cooper-Nichol, first name Julie." Marissa looked down at her pedicured toenails nervously. The hostess looked down at her list then waved imperiously at Marissa.

"Right this way."

Marissa followed obediently, mentally preparing herself to face her mother and sister. Both had kept their lives of riches and high-class living. Julie managed to design and market handbags and accessories to keep the family financially afloat. Caitlin had become one of the elite stewardesses that graced every corporate, first-class flight.

_And what have I become?_ she asked herself quietly.

"Marissa! Darling!" Julie Cooper-Nichol stood and hugged her eldest daughter as the restaurant hostess stood off to the side, a snide and uninterested expression decorating her face. Julie faced to thank her but blinked.

"I suggest," she began in the false tones of sweet, sure tones of danger, "that you not work in the service industry unless you're ready and willing to comply with the fact that you're serving others."

"Mom!" Marissa gasped. She looked at the small table for her sister but saw only signs of a third dining companion.

"She deserved it, honey. You don't look like that when serving patrons of a high-class restaurant. That's how many a restaurant has earned a bad name in this town." The two women seated themselves, Julie at her former place and Marissa on her right, in the unoccupied seat.

"Where's Caitlin, Mom?" Marissa questioned, unsure of what to say to her mother after keeping minimal contact with her after 10 years.

"Bathroom. My, you should see you little sister now! She couldn't change after her flight, so when I saw her here (early, too, mind you), I was absolutely stunned!"

"Mom, you really shouldn't make a big deal out of things," a feminine voice said from behind the empty chair across from Marissa. Marissa looked up to see her younger sister standing there, stunning in a classy looking uniform. She stood up and hugged her sister.

"Geeze, Caitlin! You've grown up good!"

"Same goes for you, big sis," Caitlin replied. She stepped back to take a good look at Marissa and smiled. Marissa held back a flinch. "So where's Nick?"

The two ladies sat down and Julie commented.

"Yes, honey. Where is Nick? Why, that last time I saw him was at Christmas with you, when the two of you breezed through Newport on your way to Cancun."

"Mom, don't make me feel guilty," Marissa replied. "Nick had a lot of things to do back home. He said it would be nice if I took a little vacation."

"Hmmm, it would've been nice to see him, that's all. Oh, look, here's our waiter."

Marissa sighed with relief. _I dodged that bullet_, she thought warily. _Now I just have to survive the next week and a half_.

They continued on with lunch until Caitlin decided to bomb Marissa with news.

"Hey, you'll never guess who I saw on the flight here," she said as the three of them finished their conversation on the latest fashion trends in Hollywood and New York. Caitlin's mouth was full of tiramisu and she wasn't even done swallowing as she remembered her hot topic. Marissa looked up with mild interest.

"Who? Another one of Mom's clients?" she asked dully. She had heard the thousands of stories from her sister over the phone, Internet, and text messaging about whom she had seen, served, and talked to.

"Your old boyfriend, Ryan."

Two forks clattered to their plates, one in shock, and the other in despair.

* * *

"Ryan! Ryyyyaaaan!" Seth looked around the pool house as he stepped inside. He swelled with nostalgia as he surveyed the Ryan-esque chaos: unmade bed, duffel bag on the floor, and multitudes of clothes slightly askew. There were many times that Seth had walked into that area and seen the exact same mess, but then it had brought different emotions. He was always afraid that Ryan was going to leave, was not going to be there the next morning to back him up in his stupid schemes.

"Hey, man," Ryan replied as he emerged from the bathroom, towel-drying his head as he skipped down the steps. "What's up? Sick of the wife and kids already?"

Seth and Ryan laughed, walked out of the pool house and into the kitchen of the main house.

"Hey, if I admitted that, I'd have Summer on my back, and not in a good sense."

"Aw, man, that's nasty. That's one mental picture I could've avoided."

As Ryan headed for the fridge, he was quickly cut off by all three of his nieces and nephew.

"Hi, Uncle Ryan!"

"Hey, Uncle Ry!"

"Boop, blugh, feh."

Hey laughed and greeted the twins as they ducked in and out of the fridge, grabbing bottles of orange juice on the way. He picked up Nevaeh and held her in one arm as he pulled out the last bottle of OJ and a baby bottle of apple juice.

"You want this, babe?" he held up the apple juice in front of his niece and conversed with her in a slight singsong tone. "Or milk? Hmm?"

"Quit it, man," Seth teased from across the counter as his daughter pulled the apple juice out of Ryan's grasp. "You might make her like you more than me."

"I'm a natural with kids, bro. They just like me." He turned to Nevaeh. "Don't you, Vey?"

Nevaeh giggled and Ryan and Seth laughed. Ryan set her on her feet on the floor and headed for Seth. The two of them watched her waddle her way over to the older two and plop herself on the floor while Zack and Ciara played a video game competitively.

"So, this is something, huh." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. Who would've thought that we'd be here, right now, in this… Situation." There was a brief pause. "That used to be us, playing games like that."

"I remember. Like the first morning after your dad brought me here. Cereal and video games."

"A classic. And not just my dad, man. _Our_ dad." Another pause. "So why didn't you bring Kelly? Even if she couldn't come to the reunion, she could've stayed here and done other things around town."

Ryan downed half his juice before answering. "I don't know. I just felt like this was something I needed to do on my own."

"What, face Marissa Cooper?" Seth turned to his brother and looked him straight in the eye. "Ryan, you'd have had to of done it sooner or later. It's not like you could've avoided her for the rest of your natural lives."

"The man's got a point, you know," Sandy replied, strolling into the kitchen and sticking his head into the refrigerator. "Hey, is that the last orange juice?"

Ryan grinned, held up the bottle in cheers and downed the other half. "Yup. Beat you to it, old man."

"I may be an old man, " Sandy retorted heartily, "but I'm the old man who still goes surfing every morning."

"Nasty old habit of his, isn't Mom?" Seth said as Kirsten and Summer walked into the kitchen.

"Very," was her sarcastic reply. She spied Sandy pouring himself a mug of coffee. "What, no orange juice?"

"Nope," all three men replied in flat unison. Summer shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Do you guys, like, practice that behind our backs or something? Because it's starting to get really annoying after fifteen years."

Everyone laughed and the kids began to argue over a discrepancy in the game. Nevaeh toddled over to the kitchen counter where Kirsten picked her up and sat her down on the counter top.

"Guys, quit it," Seth called. "It's just a game."

"Hypocrite," Sandy muttered aloud. "You and Ryan used to argue like that all the time when it came to video games."

"Yeah, when they weren't coming up with harebrained schemes to get all four of us in trouble," Summer replied.

"Speaking of four," Kirsten commented with slight interest as she heated up water for tea, "Where is Marissa? I'd have thought you four would be all here just like old times."

The uncomfortable silence answered her question.


End file.
